


Still I Think He's Rather Tasty

by kijayzx



Category: Aladdin (2019)
Genre: F/M, Minor Canonical Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 19:51:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19258024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kijayzx/pseuds/kijayzx
Summary: When he needed a last minute distraction, Mehrunisa was there to take the heat. Now Aladdin wants to return the favor.





	Still I Think He's Rather Tasty

Mehrunisa wipes the sweat from her brow. Running wares from the docks all the way to her brother's stall at the bazaar is exhausting, but she needs to earn a living, and her strength is her greatest asset, no matter what anybody else said. Her parents were always ashamed of her, convinced that nobody would ever take a girl her size as a wife ("Who can afford to feed such a person?"). They never even tried to find her a suitor, and turned her out at a young age.

Thankfully her brother had taken pity on her. Ahmed had survived their parents' abuse with less trouble than she had, and managed to set up a fabric importing business that was beginning to be of real renown. When she was left with nowhere left to go, he had taken her in and given her a job to boot. The best part of all was that the bazaar was clear on the other side of Agrabah from her parents. She didn't need a man to pay her dowry, she could take care of herself.

Still, though, a person needs to touch, to be touched. The caress of fine fabrics against her skin as she carried the bolts across the city was a tease she could hardly bear.

When she arrives at Ahmed's shop, the bazaar is bustling. But not in the usual way- today there's a tension, an anger on the faces of the guards. They're looking for trouble. She hopes nobody gives it to them.

"Good morning Awad, good morning Fatima," she nods to the elderly grocers tending their stall, their baskets piled high with dates, plums, and cucumbers.

"Good morning to you, Mehrunisa . It's an awfully warm day for you to be-" 

He's cut off by an approaching stampede of guards, chasing after someone. Anticipating disaster, Mehrunisa places her formidable body in between the guards and the fruit stall. They give her plenty of room, instead knocking a jewelry display to pieces. A shame, but jewelry can be cleaned- Awad and Fatima's fruits would have been crushed.

"Stop, thief!" A woman's voice rings above the crowd. Others yell after her. "Riff raff! Scoundrel!"

Fatima rolls her eyes. "There goes that Aladdin, always causing trouble."

Awad puts a hand on her knee. "At least he keeps the guards busy. They'd be harassing everyone else if they weren't chasing him around every day."

Mehrunisa sympathizes. "I wish they'd give him a break! What do they expect an orphan boy to do?"

Fatima smiles. "Oh Mehrunisa, he's hardly a boy nowadays. Would you be so understanding if he had a rougher face?"

Mehrunisa winks at her. "He doesn't have one, though, does he? I'm going to higher ground, I want to see the action."

She leaves the bolts of fabric with the stall attendant, and makes her way to the stairs leading above their mud brick home. She can see from the clouds of dust rising that Aladdin is leading the guards on a wild goose chase, around in circles through the bazaar- and coming this way!

The monkey comes ahead of him, bouncing back and forth across the walls and right off Mehrunisa's head, mussing her hair as he goes. Aladdin is approaching, walking backwards up the steps.

"Come on guys, let's not be too hasty," she hears Aladdin pleading as he approaches. She can already guess which route he's going to take- There's a series of passages on the roofs of the bazaar buildings that's too narrow for the bulky and heavily armored guards to chase him through effectively.

She presses herself firmly against the wall as he passes her. "Oh hey Mehrunisa," he smiles as though he isn't running from half the city guard, and tips his fez her way before leaping off to who-knows-where. 

She waits in the center of the stairwell for the rush of guards, who turn the corner only seconds after Aladdin's out of sight. 

"Move, woman, if you're worth more than the street rat that just came through here."

She's tired of these bullies. She leans against the wall and bats her eyelashes at them.

"Was there a rat? I only saw a boy."

"Don't be literal, you beast. He may be just a boy, but he's scum, he's trouble, he's the scourge of Agrabah!"

She giggles. "Still, I think he's  _rather_ tasty."

She moves, as if to let them pass, but instead pretends to accidentally step in the wrong direction, bringing the group to a standstill for a few extra seconds. 

"Silly me," she says, before finally stepping out of the way. They rush past, but she's given Aladdin at least an extra twenty seconds, and when she sees the guards retreat back down the stairs a few minutes later, she knows it was enough. 

The evening brings with it no relief from the brutal desert heat. Instead of the stifling air of the house, she decides to take a mat up to the roof and sleep under the stars. All is quiet, except for passing murmurs from the street, and she begins to drift off. Right when she's on the edge of consciousness, though, the clap of a board dropping onto the edge of the roof jars her awake.

"Sorry! Sorry!" says a voice as it scampers across the neighboring building onto hers. "I didn't mean to frighten you."

"Aladdin?" She's not dressed modestly- the heat sapped even the consideration that she was outside in her undergarments from her mind. 

"Mehrunisa. You saved my life today." He looks bashful and tentative, like he's afraid of her.

"I don't like when the city guard harasses our community," she says. 

He looks surprised. "You think of me as part of our community?"

Mehrunisa gives him a sarcastic look. "Come sit down, Aladdin. Let me tell you something."

His gait is loose and relaxed, and when he plops down alongside her, it makes her laugh. He moves like his monkey, Abu. She wraps her arm around him and squeezes him close. "Everyone loves you. At least, if it's not their stall the guards smash to pieces that day!"

"You're only saying that because I've never stolen from your brother," he says.

She chuckles. "Don't be daft, boy. You can't pocket a bolt of fabric, and if you could, you would have. We don't think you're favoring us."

"Why, then?"

"Days are long and exhausting. All of us are run down, barely making ends meet to pay the Sultan's taxes so he and that princess of his can luxuriate in the palace. On top of that, the guard are always breathing down our necks, making sure we can't so much as criticize the way that wicked Vizier has been influencing things."

"But what does that have to do with me? Why would anyone love me?"

"Your smile. Your charm. Your innocence."

"I've never heard a thief get called innocent before."

"Do you think the entire bazaar is naive, Aladdin? Everyone knows it's you who takes things and doesn't pay for them. We turn a blind eye, pretend not to notice. You only get into trouble when you forget to notice the guards. You aren't actually that good of a thief, boy."

He blushes, and she worries she's embarrassed him, which isn't what she wants. 

"How can I repay you for what you did for me today?" He asks. "And for all the stealing you... you decided not to notice."

She leans back and stares into the sky. She knows how he can repay her, but she could never ask.

"Mehrunisa?"

"I'm lonely, Aladdin. I might be able to take care of myself, but my heart cannot."

He turns to her and gazes at her body. She's big, and soft, and smooth. Her undergarments are damp from her sweat and cling to her in the heat. He shrugs off his vest and it slides down his back. 

"Hey, scoot over," he says suddenly. "Your mat is just about big enough for the two of us, if we get close."

She stares at him. "You mean..." 

"Do you want a taste?"


End file.
